April 8th:
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This course will survey a range of questions about the existence and nature of various things. The questions discussed will include some or all of the following: Is there a God? Is there a mind-independent material world? Are there immaterial souls? Are there ordinary material objects like statues and lumps of clay? Are there any composite objects at all? Is there such a thing as empty space? Are there abstract entities, like the number one, the letter A, and the property redness? Are there fictional things, like Sherlock Holmes? And could it be that some of these questions, in some sense, lack objectively correct answers?
Course Code: V83.0078-001
Instructor: Cian Dorr, 1001H Cathedral of Learning, office hours: Wednesday 10.30-12.30 or by appointment, email: csd6@pitt.edu.
Lecture Times: 4 - 5.15, Tuesdays and Thursdays, Langley A210
This course is intended for students who have had some previous experience in philosophy. It will be presupposed that you already have some of the basic skills involved in analysing, evaluating and producing philosophical arguments. It will be an advantage if you have taken a logic course. If you haven't got this experience, you might well find that things are going at too fast a pace, and that too much is being taken for granted. If this happens, you should think seriously about the possibility of switching into a more introductory philosophy course. If you end up deciding to drop the course, please let me know so I can assign your place to someone else.
It is of essential importance that you should attend the lectures. A lot of important material that isn't discussed in the readings will be presented in the lectures, and I will expect that your papers will take account of relevant critical points made in the lectures. It is also important that you should on most occasions have done the required readings prior to the lecture for which they are assigned.
To give you an additional incentive to come to class, attendance will be taken in each class. Each class you miss, after the first three, without a valid medical excuse or equivalent, will diminish your final grade for the course by a sixth of a grade. So suppose that you miss 7 of the 28 lectures, and you get a B+ for the papers and exams. Then your final grade for the course will be diminished by 4/6 of a full grade, leaving you with a B-.
If you come late to class, that counts as having missed only half a class, but you should be sure to let me know after the lecture that you arrived late.
There will be two papers and an exam.
Your final grade will be determined as follows (prior to the penalty for poor attendance):
| 20% | First paper |
| 30% | Midterm exam |
| 50% | Final paper |
We will be reading the following two books, which are on order at the bookstore.
Supplementary readings will be distributed in class or available online.
This is a tentative syllabus that will certainly change considerably as the course goes on. Check this page frequently to keep up to date!
| Date | Topic and readings | Online materials |
| Jan 6 | Lecture 1 | |
| Idealism | ||
| Jan 8 | Lecture 2 | |
| Jan 13 | Berkeley, First Dialogue. | Lecture 3 |
| Jan 15 | Lecture 4 | |
| Jan 20 | Second Dialogue | Lecture 5 |
| Jan 22 | ||
| Jan 27 | (Class cancelled) | |
| Jan 29 | Third Dialogue | Lecture 6 First Paper Topics |
| Composition and coincidence | ||
| Feb 3 |
Michael Burke, 'Dion and Theon: An Essentialist Solution to an Ancient Puzzle' | Lecture 7 |
| Feb 5 | Lecture 8 | |
| Feb 10 |
Theodore Sider, Four-Dimensionalism, excerpts | Lecture 9 |
| Feb 12 | Lecture 10 | |
| Feb 17 | Lecture 11 | |
| Feb 19 | ||
| Feb 24 |
Peter van Inwagen, Material Beings, excerpts | Lecture 12 |
| Feb 26 | Lecture 13 | |
| Mar 2 |
Cian Dorr and Gideon Rosen, 'Composition as a Fiction' (available online) | Lecture 14 |
| Universals and particulars | ||
| Mar 4 | ||
| Mar 16 |
Armstrong, Chapter 1 | Lecture 16 |
| Mar 18 | Lecture 17 | |
| Mar 23 | In-Class Exam | |
| Mar 25 | Armstrong, Chapter 2 | Lecture 18 |
| Mar 30 | Lecture 19 | |
| April 1 | Armstrong, Chapter 3 | Lecture 20 |
| April 6 | Armstrong, Chapter 5 | Lecture 21 Final paper topics |
| April 8 | Armstrong, Chapter 4 | |
| April 13 | Armstrong, Chapter 6 | |
| April 15 | ||
Here are three excellent pages maintained by Jim Pryor: a glossary of philosophical terms and methods, a set of guidelines on writing philosophy papers, and a set of guidelines on reading philosophy papers.
Last modified April 8, 2004